A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) are not the same thing although many times the terms are used interchangeably.

A DRP involves the  timely recovery of information technology assets and services after a disaster such as a fire or hardware failure occurs.

A BCP is broader than DRP in that it plans for the recovery of the entire organization's business processes in the event of a disaster. A BCP includes such things as plans for work facilities, the communication of critical information to employees, telephone services, workstations/servers to resume departmental operations, and procedures for restoring the company to the prior state.

The main difference is DRP is more commonly associated with information technology system recovery alone, while BCP has a much broader business context. 

Backup is part of a disaster recovery plan. Backup is the copying of files to assist with facilitating restoration of the information technology assets. The backup files could contain information such as data, applications, operating systems, and documentation. 

Many small and midsize businesses think that backup is a disaster recovery and/or business continuity plan.  It is not. Backing up data does not ensure a business will be able to operational after disaster.

Does it matter what you call the plan?  NO

What does matter is an effective plan addresses not only the recovery of data and the technical environment, but includes the people, processes, and procedures necessary to operate the business. The ability for management and employees to manage and respond to a potential disruption as well as service clients/customers will keep a company viable in the face of a disaster event.

Issue 31, September 11, 2007